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New Scientist Live

Technology : How Hamlet was shot …

By Barry Fox

KENNETH Branagh says he wants audiences to “smell and feel the atmosphere of
the court, dripping with power, opulence and corruption” when they watch his
movie version of Hamlet, which opens in London on 14 February. To
achieve this, Branagh has gone back to using technology that the film industry
abandoned 30 years ago. Hamlet was shot on 65-millimetre film and then
transferred to the 70-millimetre film that larger cinemas can project.

A 65-millimetre film frame is around four times the size of a 35-millimetre
frame, which is the Hollywood standard, so it captures four times as much visual
information. Printing onto 70-millimetre film leaves room for soundtracks
without sacrificing any of the picture area. The larger frame also lets more
light from the projector lamp reach the screen and reduces the need for
magnification. So the pictures look bright and clear, even on a very big
screen.

The 65/70-millimetre format was first used for Oklahoma! in 1955 but
has seldom been used in Europe since David Lean shot Lawrence of Arabia
and Ryan’s Daughter in the 1960s. The cameras are big and heavy, the
raw film stock is very expensive and the camera lens must be very accurately
focused, especially on close-ups.

Although some cinemas still show 70-millimetre Hollywood epics, the films
have usually been shot on 35-millimetre stock and enlarged. The pictures look
brighter but are no clearer.

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Kodak supplied the 65-millimetre film used to shoot Hamlet. It costs
£740 for a roll that runs for only 9 minutes, whereas a roll of
35-millimetre film runs for 11 minutes and costs £370. Also, when filming
in 65-millimetre it is more difficult to keep actors in focus.

The only economy measure taken in the filming of Hamlet was to
transfer the pictures to 35-millimetre film and video for rough editing and
viewing. The precious 65-millimetre original was then cut to match the
lower-quality copy.